Venting closure and liner therefor



y 1952 E. DRYER 2,602,559

VENTING CLOSURE AND LINER THEREFOR Filed Sept. 24, 1948 yelops pressure: in the container.

Patented July 8, 1952 STATES PATENT OFFICE f "2,602,559" p a a "VENTING oLosUnE AND LI nn'rHEnEFoB Edward I}; DryeniLancaster i las assignor to Arnistrong Cork, Company, Lancaster, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania 1 m tric material I of impurities, such as small amounts of iron, copper, or organic material, which impurities cause decomposition of the products resulting in the evolution of gaswhich de- Ifhe development of pressure may alsobe caused by storage of such containers in places in which they are subjected to elevated temperatures as the application of fairly high temperatures to such materials also results in decomposition of at least a portion of the material resulting in the evolution of gasestherefrom V Pressure; development within such containers is a definite hazard as excessive pressures'ha veofttimes resulted in sudden disintegration of the container with an explosive force which may have very harmful effects. In addition, in many instances wherein pressure has developed and has not beenrelievedsudden opening of the package resultsin a rapiddischarge of its contents due to comparatively; high pressures within the pac Various closures knownto the art asfv e nting closures have been proposed and used to overcome the problem of pressure developmentwithin this type of package. These venting closures .are, generally speaking, quite complicated and difiicult to manufacture and, for that reason, only a few oflthe m have been employed commercially in an attempt to overcome the problem of pressure development. While closures have been developed which vent gas upon the development of comparatively high pressures within the container, there is also the problem of liquid leakage due to ineffective'sealing. Since somesort of valve must bepresent to enable ventingof the closure to release the gases developed through decompositionor other reactions within the package, leakage through such valve arrangements often occurs, particularly in :those in t e w er n the mat ri l packaged o ma v nth i u dp ase- Generally peak e.,,

de ir ble to provi e. a. rent closur w ic i Application September 24, 1948, Serial No. 51,076

' 2 Claims. (01. 215 -56) vents so as to relieve excess pressure at a pressure of 10 to 15 pounds per square inch. In some instances, depending upon the particular product, the design of the container or package, and the like, venting at pressures of 5 to 10 pounds per square inch is desirable. An acceptableventing closure should vent up to pressures as high as those indicated above and should also have a valve action sothat, upon release of the pressure, there will be a sealing oil of the remaining contents of the container to which the closure is applied. a j 1 x In addition to the above-discussed problems of venting, while at the same time providing a seal after release of pressure, there is the requirement that such a closure be capable of convenient manufacture. ,7

It is, accordingly, an object of this invention to provide a closure which is capable of relieving pressure; developed in containers or packages for material which develops pressure under certain conditions. i Y a A further object of this invention is the provisionof aliner which may be employed in conjunction with aconventional closure, thereby rendering it capable of ventin upon the development of pressure'within a container to which it is applied with a minimumrisk of leakage.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a venting closure, the parts of which may be conveniently assembled in conventional equipment These'and other objects of this invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon becoming familiar with the following description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing in which: i

Figure l is a perspective view of a laminated sheet from which liners are punched in accordance with one embodiment of my invention;

Figure ,2 is a bottom plan view, with a portion broken away, of aliner, punched from the sheet of Figure 1;;

Figure 3 is a:pe1'spective view of. a laminated sheet made in accordance with another embodiment of my invention; p a V j Figure 4 is a sectional view of a cap containing the liner of Figure 2 andapplied to the neck of a container; I

Figure 5 is a view similar to-Figure 4 illustrating the manner in which, venting occurs upon the developmentof pressure within the container;

Figure 'vi'ewsimilar to Figure 4 illustrating ain rpunche i dm ther t'i w 3 as part of a venting closure applied to a container.

In accordance with one embodiment of my invention, I provide a liner material such as is shown in Figure 1, which material comprises a resilient backing 2, an intermediate screen layer 3, and a facing layer 4. The sheet shown in Figure 1 may be manufactured by anymeans known to the art, but preferably by adhesively securing the screen 3 as an intermediate layer to the backing 2 and the facing 4. The adhesive may be anyone known to the art suchas casein type, glue and the like. The backing 2 may be of any material known to the closure linerart such' ascork composition, pulpboard, newspulp," or other naturally occurring or synthetic materials having equivalent properties. The screen 3' is advantage ously of a coarse mesh such as Window screen and may be made of metal or any suitableplastic" such as nylon, Saran (vinylidene chloride polymers) Vinylite (vinyl chloride-polymers and co-' polymers), and the like. Generally speaking, it is desirable to employ a plastic-material which possesses some resistance to acids, alkalies, and the like which may be encountered in the packingof various products. The facing 4 may be any one of a numberof thin and flexible material known to the art including Vinylite, Saran, Pliofilm, metal foil, varnished paper, and the like. I

After a sheet of laminated material having a plurality of separate laminae has been assembled asindicated above, it may be sliced into ribbons of desirable thickness and passed through punches from which a liner such as that illustrated in Figure 2- may be punched.- Of course, if desired, the sheet itself may be passedthrough a plurality of punches properly spaced so as to obtain a liner-of the desired dimensions.

If desired, in one, embodiment ofmy invention, the backing material may be eliminated and the liner may comprise a heavy screen to which is adhered a suitable facing film of resistant material. Thefacingfilm may be any of the wellknown facing materials mentioned above. Such a-modificat-ion is illustrated in Figure? in which 3 designatesascreen which functions as-a backing to the facing-film 4-. After the-liners have pressure within the container.

4 ing screen 3 and facing material 4. Ordinarily, a friction fit of theliner in the shell 6 is employed in this type of assembly.

The operation of the venting closures of my invention upon the development of pressure within a container to which it is applied is illustrated in Figure 5. As can be seen by reference to Figure 5, the pressure applied to the facing film 4 causes the film to flex'around'the cut edges of the screen 3, thereby permitting the pressure developing gases to escape and thus relieve the Upon release of thepressure, the facing film because of its flexible-nature resumes its position in sealing relapackage and the like, friction fit linersimay :be

used in plastic shells and adhesively secured liners may be used in metalshells.

In Figure 4 is illustrated an'assembled closure -made in accordance with my invention applied to is employed. Thetwo-ply liner includes a backin said container.

tionship withthe lip of the container. It is to be understood; however, that I do not intend to be limited by any theories expressed herein.

The closures and the liners therefor made in accordance with my invention are comparatively simple to manufacture and to assemble. The liner may be manufactured by conventional techniques,- and the closure may be assembled in conventional equipment. The resulting product-is a venting closure which is capable of venting upon the development of excessive'pressure within a container and which is also capable of substantially completely rescaling the -container contents upon release of pressure within the container.

Whilemy invention has been de'scribedwith reference to certain particular embodiments and with reference to certain specific examples, it should be understood that my invention is not limited thereby. Therefore, changes, omissions, substitutions and/or additions may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention as defined in the appended claims which'are'intended to be limited only as required by theprior'art. I claim: I Y 1. In combination with a container, a venting closure including a shell having means for afliX- ing the closure to a containerand'a liner adhesively secured thereto, saidliner including a-relain the container.

2; In combination with a container, a venting closure comprising a-closure shell" having means for affixing said closure to acontainer, a-liner in said closure including a relatively coarse scr'een l having adhesively secured thereto a'fa'cing film ofrelatively thin, flexible, and'impervious plastic materiaL-the outer periphery of said screen form'- ing a plurality of openings capable of receivin said film upon the development of pressure-with- EDWARD L. DRYER.

7 REFERENCES 'CITED The following-references are" of record injthe file'i'ofthis patents UNITED STATES'PATENTS.

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